# What is noindex?

Noindex is a rule, set in a robots meta tag or an HTTP header, that tells Google to drop a page from its search results even if other sites link to it.

- Canonical URL: https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/noindex
- Topic: [Glossary](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary)
- Format: Glossary
- Publisher: Mover Marketing AI, reviewed by Nicholas DiMoro

## Learning objectives

After reading this article you will be able to:

- Define the noindex rule and where it goes
- Avoid the robots.txt mistake that stops noindex from working

## What is noindex?

Noindex is an instruction that keeps a page out of search results. Google says that when it finds the rule, it "will drop that page entirely from Google Search results, regardless of whether other sites link to it."

It goes in one of two places:

- **A robots meta tag** in the page's HTML: `<meta name="robots" content="noindex">`
- **An HTTP response header**: `X-Robots-Tag: noindex`, useful for files such as PDFs.

## Why doesn't noindex work with robots.txt?

Because Google has to read the page to see the rule. Google warns: "If the page is blocked by a robots.txt file or the crawler can't access the page, the crawler will never see the noindex rule, and the page can still appear in search results." See [what is robots.txt](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/robots-txt).

Google also says noindex inside robots.txt "is not supported."

## When should a moving company use noindex?

For pages that shouldn't appear in search, such as thank-you pages, internal tools, or test and staging sites. The most common mistake runs the other way: a staging site's noindex is copied to the live site at launch. Google's site-move guidance says not to forget "to remove any noindex or robots.txt blocks that were only needed for the migration." See [how to redesign a website without losing rankings](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/websites/website-redesign-without-losing-rankings).

## FAQs

### Does Google crawl noindex pages?

Google has to crawl a page to see its noindex rule. Google says the page must not be blocked by robots.txt, or the crawler will never see the rule.

### How can I check if a page has a noindex tag?

Look in the page's HTML for a robots meta tag containing noindex, check the HTTP response headers for X-Robots-Tag, or use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console.

## Related articles

- [What is robots.txt?](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/robots-txt)
- [How to redesign a website without losing rankings](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/websites/website-redesign-without-losing-rankings)

## Sources

- [Google Search Central: Block Search indexing with noindex](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/block-indexing)
- [Google Search Central: Introduction to robots.txt](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro)
- [Search Console Help: URL Inspection tool](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9012289)